A Question of Duty
by Bobcat Moran
Summary: Directly before the events of the first classic Rockman game, one of Dr. Light's household robots comes to him with an unusual proposition: convert him into a fighting robot.


_**Author's notes: **__I usually listen to music when I study or write or do pretty much anything. This particular fic was inspired pretty much directly from the tracks "Remembering Childhood" and "You Are the Pan" from the_ Hook_ soundtrack by John Williams._

_**Disclaimer:**_ _All characters are property of Capcom._

* * *

"_The attacks by the six 'robot masters' have continued, with latest reports coming from Hong Kong, where the Bomb Man robot has leveled several city blocks, and Sydney, where the Elec..."_

_How could this have happened?_ Dr. Thomas Light, robot scientist extraordinaire, listened in numb shock as the radio told of the devastation being wreaked by the robots he and his partner, Dr. Albert Wily, had built. _Why on earth would Albert reprogram all of the new models to do such things?_

A muted clanking approaching from behind him reminded Dr. Light that not quite all of the new robots had been reprogrammed. "Is that you, Rock?" the scientist inquired.

"Sorry, I was trying to be quiet," a high-pitched voice replied. Yes, that was Rock. How he and Roll had managed to avoid being reprogrammed was a mystery which Dr. Light didn't think he'd ever solve. Maybe Dr. Wily simply hadn't tried as hard, since those two were just household robots, while the others were industrial robots. Maybe it was because Dr. Light had personally worked more on them. Whatever it was, Rock and Roll had escaped with nothing more than a bit of a fright and what Roll had described as a "massive killer headache."

"Um, I fixed the kitchen door," Rock continued. "The doorknob on the kitchen side's completely trashed, though. You can still open and close the door, so..." the robot trailed off as he realized what Dr. Light was listening to.

_"...casualties mounting as the crisis continues. Stay tuned for further information on the Robot Rebellion after these messages from our spons..."_

"It's really bad, isn't it?" Rock asked. Dr. Light looked up at the robot standing by his chair. "I saw the news on TV earlier. They're hurting a lot of people."

Dr. Light nodded.

"It's not right. Robots aren't supposed to hurt people."

"No, Rock. No, they're not."

"They said that the military isn't able to stop them, and neither is anyone else."

"I know."

Rock pulled up a chair and they sat silently, as the radio blared an ad for breath mints. Rock reached over and turned down the volume. "Dr. Light, I've been thinking. They've just been sending human forces after Cut Man and the others, right? Why don't they try using robots? Then fewer people would be getting hurt."

"They tried to send a few simpler models out right after Dr. Wily's broadcast," Dr. Light reminded the robot. "They didn't have a chance against the advanced AI Albert and I gave our new models. I don't think all of the parts were even — sorry, Rock," he halted, seeing the disturbed look on the robot's face as he contemplated the fate of the robots who had gone up against the "robot masters."

The room was quiet again, except for the faint sound of a radio announcer who was trying to urge listeners to watch tonight's Very Special Episode of "Klub Kobun."

"What if they sent smarter robots?" Rock blurted.

"Rock, there aren't any other robots who are anywhere near that level," Dr. Light sighed.

"What about Roll and me? There's gotta be others, aren't there?" Rock asked. "Aren't there?" he repeated, almost pleading.

Dr. Light shook his head. "You eight are the first to be able to reason at this level; you're a huge jump ahead of any other robots out there." _Well, almost any other robot out there,_ he silently admitted. But Blues had been missing for months, and he could be lying in a scrap heap somewhere for all anyone knew.

"Well, couldn't you build a fighting robot or something?"

"Those government officials that were here earlier today asked the same thing. And I'll tell you what I told them. To create a robot like what they want would take months. Just creating the basic programming for robots at that level takes weeks, not to mention that I wouldn't even know where to begin on such a thing. I'm not a warmonger, Rock. I make robots to help, not to hurt."

"How long would it take you to modify an existing robot?"

"Probably only a few days if it was advanced enough to start with. But there's only three robots at that level which Wily hasn't reprogrammed."

"There's Roll and me. Who's the third?"

"Never mind. Like I said, I wouldn't even know how to design any sort of weapons system."

"But you could do it if you had an advanced robot to work off of," Rock pushed.

"Rock, if you think I'm going to try and modify Roll, think again."

"Not Roll. Me."

"You? Rock, I couldn't—"

The robot suddenly looked very determined. "No, hear me out. The military isn't able to do anything, people are getting hurt, and you've basically said yourself that a robot with advanced AI equal to Cut Man and the others' might have a better chance. And I'm saying I'm volunteering."

Dr. Light looked incredulously at the blue-eyed robot. "But you're not built for this," he protested.

"Well, yeah, that's why you'd need to make modifications. Like my plasma torch attachment. It wouldn't be that hard to make it so it could actually shoot plasma like some sort of cannon or something. And you already know how to build armor from helping design the shielding for those construction robots."

"Rock, this is crazy."

"It might be, but if I don't stop them, who will?"

* * *

It had taken three days, but the modifications to Rock were finally finished.

Shiny new blue armor covered his boots, hips, and the gauntlets which fit over the newly installed mechanisms to transform Rock's hands into deadly plasma cannons in the blink of an eye. Rock had helped design them, but it was Dr. Light's idea to include a system where Rock could use data from any of the advanced robots he defeated to equip his cannon to fire weapons similar to those of the other robots.

He had been equipped with the latest in teleportation technology, so he could quickly go from place to place, although Dr. Light had cautioned that the technology was still not very accurate, and it was likely that Rock would still have to fight his way past multitudes of other reprogrammed robots before reaching the artificial beings dubbed "robot masters" by the media.

There were also other modifications, such as boosted jumping ability, and a meter so Rock could keep track of his energy levels.

"Well," Dr. Light said, turning to Roll, the robot he had built as Rock's "sister" household robot, "should we see if he still works after all of the tinkering we did?" The blond robot nodded. Dr. Light opened a panel on Rock's chest, pressed a few buttons, flipped some switches, and stood back as the remodeled robot hummed to life.

Rock opened his eyes slowly, then blinked a couple of times.

"Rock?" his sister robot asked.

The blue-armored robot smiled and turned to look at her. "Roll. I think it worked." He ran through the upgrades with Dr. Light, trying out the jump enhancements, firing the arm cannons, listening to the scientist's cautions not to use both arm cannons at once because of danger of overheating his systems, and then finally taking his helmet, and placing it over his unruly black hair. "Well, here I go. These coordinates are for Cut Man, right, Dr. Light?"

The scientist nodded.

"I'll be back before you know it," Rock said, although the confidence in his voice didn't match the apprehensive look on his face. He waved goodbye, and ran off down the road leading away from the lab.

"Take care of yourself, Rock," Roll said to the retreating back of her brother. "Come back safe."

**-owari-**

_Comments, especially constructive criticism, are very, very welcome. My policy of reciprocating reviews still stands, as long as I'm familiar with the fandom you write for. (I read a lot of stuff besides Mega Man fics, so don't be shy!)_


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